Basics Part 2
In the Basics In the Seska In the Suder's Penance '' |image= |series= |production=40840-146 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Michael Piller |director=Winrich Kolbe |imdbref=tt0708854 |guests=Brad Dourif as Lon Suder, Anthony De Longis as Culluh, Martha Hackett as Seska, Nancy Hower as Samantha Wildman, Simon Billig as Hogan, Scott Haven as Kazon-Nistrim engineer, David Cowgill as Hanonian #2, Michael Bailey Smith as Hanonian #1, John Kenton Shull as Hanonian medicine man, Russ Fega as Paxim and Majel Barrett as the narrator/computer voice |previous_production=Flashback |next_production=The Chute |episode=VGR S03E01 |airdate=4 September 1996 |previous_release=(VGR) Basics Part 1 (Overall) Broken Link |next_release=Flashback |story_date(s)=50023.4 50032.7 (2372/2373) |previous_story=Basics Part 1 |next_story= Flashback Apocalypse Rising }} Summary Previously While Lon Suder, confined to his quarters for life as punishment for his murder of Crewman Darwin, has attempted to make several agricultural-advancements, which might benefit the crew as he can improve the garden which produces most of the rations for the crew, Seska calls Voyager stating that Commander Chakotay must rescue her and her baby, now that she gave birth, since Culluh saw that the child was not his. An apparent Kazon defector, found on a stranded ship, and taken on board to Sickbay, explains his predicament, although Chakotay remains suspicious - especially when he mentions Seska's death. As Voyager travels further into Kazon space, facing heavier attacks that seem focused at the same general area of the ship, the man commits suicide in a grisly and violent explosion, which severely damages Suder's quarters and disables several of Voyager's systems. Lt. Paris takes a shuttle to find a Talaxian colony for aid, as Voyager is boarded and taken over by Kazon forces, before Captain Janeway can activate the ship's self-destruct sequence to prevent the Kazon from taking the ship. Conclusion The crew is marooned on a barren planet inhabited by primitive but seemingly hostile natives. Only two crew members are left on board Voyager - the Doctor and Suder, who was presumed dead in the explosion. Suder is convinced by the Doctor to commit violence if necessary and has a crisis of conscience. Suder hides in the vents and Jefferies tubes of the ship, risking his sanity after he is forced to kill a Kazon soldier. His old Maquis tricks keep him from being detected, but also alert Seska, who has similar experience. The Doctor takes the "credit" for the dead Kazon soldier and stops Suder from being detected. Seska doubts the story, but deactivates the Doctor's program just in case. Meanwhile, on the planet, crewman Hogan is devoured by a gigantic worm creature. The natives of the planet kidnap Kes and Neelix. Chakotay attempts to negotiate for their return, but this does not go well and he, Kes and Neelix plus other crewmen flee and are forced to hide in one of the caverns that the giant worm lives in. The natives attempt to smoke them out with a fire. Back at camp, things are going wrong, although the crew have managed to find food and warmth. Ensign Wildman's baby falls ill and continues to get worse and Chakotay's team is still missing. Janeway gathers her own crew to search for Chakotay. Inside the caverns, a mis-step leads to a crew member waking and getting eaten by the worm. Outside, Janeway has Lt. Torres and two others draw off the natives with a distraction. It works, allowing them to put out the fire and get the rest of the crew out. The worm ends up buried under tons of rock dislodged by Tuvok and others as they escape. Suder and the Doctor risk their lives to repel the Kazon. Suder, under orders from Tom Paris, who is with a Talaxian convoy, attacks the engineering section of Voyager. His goal is to sabotage the phaser weapon systems. He succeeds, but is shot in the back by a dying Kazon and dies moments after. The Kazon then attempt to destroy Tom Paris' shuttle but the sabotaged phaser coupling overloads, killing most of the Kazon and so they decide to abandon Voyager. Seska herself has been mortally wounded; she stumbles into Janeway's ready room and dies next to her child, who survived. Maje Culluh, one of the few survivors of the attack, momentarily grieves for Seska, and then takes the baby and leaves. On the planet, volcanic eruptions have forced the Voyager crew and the natives to move out together. Chakotay gains the respect of the natives when he rescues one of their children from a lava flow. The leader of the tribe gathers together plants that help Ensign Wildman's baby to recover. The crew and the natives both watch in bewilderment as Voyager descends to the planet to pick them up. Tom Paris greets Janeway and the crew on the bridge and explains of Suder's deeds. In Sickbay, there is a brief conversation over the bodies of Seska and Suder; Tuvok wishes for Suder the peace he had not been able to gain in life. Voyager continues on the journey home. Errors and Explanations Nit Central # BrianB on Friday, July 09, 1999 - 9:43 am: Why did the computer detect 89 Kazon, 1 Betazoid but no Cardassian? Perhaps Seska’s body chemistry had been altered in a way that marked her as Kazon to the computer. # Shouldn't Suder make sure all the Kazon are dead before completing his plan? Some killer. Mark Swinton on Saturday, October 30, 1999 - 4:42 pm: As I see it, Suder was having an emotional crisis killing people and this affected his judgement (i.e. shooting at the Kazon took a lot out of him and he didn't think to check that they were really most sincerely dead as opposed to not only merely dead before proceeding). ' # ''Chris Thomas on Wednesday, March 15, 2000 - 7:39 am: Why do they go scanning for Suder with tricorders? Can't they just say "Computer, scan for any non-Kazon and non-Cardassian life forms aboard Voyager" ? '''They may not be willing to trust the computer, especially after the damage they inflicted when they captured the ship. # Anonymous on Monday, April 30, 2001 - 2:23 pm: When the Kazon take all of the crew's comm badges (and, therefore, their Universal Translator), how do the crewmembers of different species communicate with each other? It's established that they can't talk to the natives of the planet, but why would they be able to talk to each other? Do all the Vulcans, Betazoids, Bolians, Bajorens, etc. on Voyager know English? Possibly, but what about Neelix and Kes? They were only on the ship for two years and never needed to learn English because the UT was always around. At the very least, I would have liked Neelix to say something like "I knew all those English lessons would come in handy." Jwb52z on Monday, April 30, 2001 - 6:28 pm: Anonymous, they probably all learned and speak Federation Standard. margie on Tuesday, May 01, 2001 - 11:28 am:''That may be, but no one speaks with any sort of accent. Most people I know who learn a second language have an accent when they speak, left over from their primary language. Also, English (Federation Standard) is supposedly one of the more difficult (at least on Earth) languages to learn, due to all the spelling and grammar variations. It's surprising that everyone can speak Federation Standard with no accent AND perfect grammar. ''Anonymous on Tuesday, May 01, 2001 - 11:58 am: I really just wanted to see some mention of it. It would have been nice to see Neelix have difficulty communicating with the rest of the crew -- an accent would have been a good idea. It would have really stressed the Kazon's point -- that the crew was left to suffer without any of their technologies. Certainly communications would be one of the most difficult things to maintain. Steve B. on Sunday, September 09, 2001 - 11:14 pm: Why would anyone in the twenty fourth century take the time to learn a foreign language, even Federation Standard, if the UT is always available? Jwb52z on Sunday, September 16, 2001 - 9:26 pm: Steve B, it is all about "self-improvement" and the fact that the technology does break down once in a while. LUIGI NOVI on Monday, September 17, 2001 - 12:24 am: 1. Sometimes the unitran doesn't work, or doesn't work as easily (The Ensigns of Command (TNG), Darmok (TNG), Sanctuary (DS9), The Swarm (VOY), Nothing Human (VOY), etc.) 2. The unitran can be recognized over comm channels, which means it cannot be used on covert missions (ST VI) or in diplomatic missions where an alien race requires to be greeted without it (The Big Goodbye(TNG)). 3. Learning a language is a rewarding scholarly endevour in itself, and learning certain root languages sometimes gives insight into the structure of its descendants. An example of this would be Latin, which is no longer spoken today, but which is still studied, partially because it may help one see how the Romance languages that sprung from it (Italian, Spanish, Portugeuse, Greek) are structured. It also gives insight into a foreign culture, which may be relevant when archaeologists study an extinct society. 4. A person's comm badge/unitran may be confiscated (ST VI, Basics Part 1 (VOY), or lost (Tattoo (VOY), First Contact (TNG)). SeniramUK 15:48, February 18, 2019 (UTC) Also, the act of taking the time to learn another person's language could be regarded by them as a sign of respect. # Vicky on Tuesday, February 19, 2002 - 2:01 pm: On the com badge front, I noticed something. When the Kazon are going round confiscating com badges, the crew just let them take it. The thing is, there's more than one Kazon taking the badges, why did no member of the crew have the presence of mind to hide their com badge and say one of the other Kazon have already taken it? I would have thought Tuvok at least would do this. The Kazon are too naturally suspicious to fall for that. Notes Category:Episodes Category:Voyager